Latest news with #BoardofPharmacy
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
State Senate considers bill to allow pharmacists to write prescriptions under certain conditions
Mar. 10—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia pharmacists could be granted a limited authority to write prescriptions under a bill working its way through the state Senate. The Senate Government Organization Committee gave its blessing to SB 526 on Monday morning and it heads to the Senate floor. The bill is called the Pharmacist Prescribing Authority Act, "to authorize pharmacists to practice the full extent of their education and training to prescribe low-risk medications to patients." It would allow prescribing of drugs for conditions that do not require a new diagnosis ; are "minor and generally self limiting "; have a diagnostic test that is waived under federal guidelines as "simple laboratory examinations and procedures that have an insignificant risk of an erroneous result, "' or are patient emergencies in the pharmacist's professonal judgment. This was the second committee to review the bill and discussion was minimal. Krista Capehart, state Board of Pharmacy director of professional and regulatory affairs, told the senators that this bill or something similar is in play in 24 states. In answer to a question about liability, she said pharmacists carry medical malpractice insurance based on the type of pharmacy they work for and the type of services provided. The Senate Health Committee previously took up and approved the bill on Feb. 20. Health chair Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, is the bill's lead sponsor. The bill saw more hashing over in Health, with Capehart fielding a series of questions. While the bill doesn't define "minor and generally self limiting, " she said it refers to a condition that would heal on its own but a prescription could accelerate healing. If the condition doesn't resolve within a certain period, the patient would be required to see a physician or advanced practice provider. She cited the recent southern West Virginia floods as an example of a situation where a pharmacist prescription would be helpful for a condition that doesn't require a new diagnosis. The floods washed away half of a pharmacy, and the patients can't get refills at nearby pharmacies because the ruined one has the prescriptions. Capehart also cited a coule examples of emergencies. In one case, the patient went into anaphylaxis and she happened to know the patient had a prescription for an epinephrine pen, so she was able to grab one and administer it. West Virginia has no such provision, she said. In another case, a patient suffered an asthma attack but the pharmacist had no authority to administer an inhaler, and the patient was lost. On a question about situations where it might be necessary to know a patient's medical history, Capehart said many pharmacies are connected to health system electronic medical records. Capehart also appreciated a question about potential perks or kickbacks for recommending certain drugs. She said pharmaceutical representatives don't eave samples at pharmacies. They might stop by to let the pharmacist know they visited area providers so the pharmacy can stock new drugs, or to drop off informational brochures. Provisions already exist, she said, for pharmacies to charge point-of-care fees for providing services of this type. Both committees approved the bill in voice votes with no audible objections.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
An alarming trend: Ohio pharmacy closures spike, openings lag
(Stock photo) Ohio's pharmacy closures have spiked in recent years, and the stores have been closing in the communities that can least afford to lose them, according to a new data tool released by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy. The result, predictably, has been fewer pharmacies overall in Ohio despite a moderately growing population. The alarming numbers again raise questions about whether pharmacies can continue to be viable in many Ohio communities. Their loss is a public health concern not only because it makes it more difficult for people to get their medicine. Pharmacies also administer vaccines and provide other services. And for the medically underserved, the neighborhood pharmacy often represents the rare chance to talk to a medical professional about conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. In Ohio, the number of openings of retail outpatient pharmacies peaked in 2015 at 110. But then something must have happened over the next 12 months. In 2016 there was a record number of closings, 120. Meanwhile, openings plummeted to 45 and stayed low for the following eight years, according to the board of pharmacy, which licenses and regulates them. Then something even more concerning happened. In 2023, the number of closures was a relatively low 55. But over the next year it shot up to 191, an increase of 247%. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE There were ample headlines announcing many of the closures. Bankrupt Rite Aid closed hundreds of stores both in Ohio and Michigan. Walgreens began a process of closing thousands of stores nationwide. And CVS last year finished up a process of closing 900 of its pharmacies. As a consequence of anemic openings and spiking closures, the number of outpatient retail pharmacies in Ohio has fallen from 2,219 in 2015 to 1,869 last year, according to the Board of Pharmacy data. That's a 16% drop over a period during which the state's population grew by about 2.5%, so there are fewer pharmacies serving more people. The closures last year prompted Dave Burke, a pharmacist, former state senator, and now executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, to voice concerns that the business of pharmacy was on a precipice that could have disastrous consequences for Ohio. The closures are already having the heaviest impact on those who stand to be most hurt by them. As part of its new dashboard, the Board of Pharmacy looked at where closures were happening compared to where the most vulnerable Ohioans live. To do that, its staff used mapping data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Social Vulnerability Index. It looks at 16 pieces of information gathered by the Census Bureau such as income, employment status, educational attainment, minority status, whether one has health insurance, the availability of transportation and whether members of the household are children or seniors. Those with the most challenges are ranked high on the index, the next are ranked medium-high, then medium-low and low. When the Board of Pharmacy overlaid closures since 2012 on the CDC vulnerability map, it became clear that pharmacies were abandoning vulnerable neighborhoods at a much higher rate. Nearly 60% of the closures occurred in high and medium-high vulnerability neighborhoods. The impact of closures on those neighborhoods might be greater still, since it seems likely they had fewer pharmacies to start with. Ohio's independent and small-chain pharmacists have long accused pharmacy middlemen that are part of huge health conglomerates of driving them out of business. Combined, the three biggest middlemen control access to 80% of the insured patients. Pharmacies say that leaves them with no negotiating leverage, so they're forced to sign contracts in which the middlemen use a non-transparent system to reimburse them for the drugs they buy and dispense. The middlemen, or pharmacy benefit managers, also impose fees and other charges that cut into already limited profits, pharmacists say. In an interim report last year, the Federal Trade Commission said the pharmacists had a point. It said the practices of the middlemen appeared to be raising prices and making patients sicker. But Antonio Ciaccia, a Columbus-based drug-pricing expert, said the woes of Ohio pharmacies are due to a more complex set of factors than that. He said traditional pharmacies are getting squeezed by a federal program meant to benefit hospitals and health centers that treat the poor, staffing problems, and pessimism about the future. But he said middleman reimbursements are unquestionably an important factor. 'It all goes back to whether you have adequate money coming in the door,' Ciaccia said. In a statement, Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Steven W. Schierholt said his agency developed the dashboard to identify pharmacy needs so policymakers can address them. 'Having a pharmacy nearby is critical to the health and safety of Ohioans, especially those who depend on prescription medications every day,' he said. 'As the pharmacy market evolves in Ohio, it is imperative that we have a tool to help policymakers and local community leaders alike stay up to speed and even get ahead of emerging trends.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House panel adds $200,000 for pharmacists' claim
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The administration of South Dakota's previous governor Kristi Noem wants the Legislature to stop allowing the governor-appointed state Board of Pharmacy to compensate the South Dakota Pharmacists Association. Compass Center suspends youth violence program amid federal pause The legislation, House Bill 1026, seeks to make numerous changes. The pharmacists association supports most of HB1026 but opposes the two sections that would repeal two state laws: One recognizes the pharmacists association; the other gives the pharmacy board permission to provide 80% of all license-renewal fees to the association in return for the association performing a variety of duties. Lobbyists Lindsey Riter Rapp and Craig Matson laid out the pharmacists association's position at the Capitol on Tuesday morning to the House Health and Human Services Committee. Riter Rapp and Matson asked the committee to provide $200,000 from state government's general fund, because the state board hadn't paid the association for the past two years. Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt agreed, and the committee amended the legislation to add a $200,000 payment. The panel then voted 12-1 to forward the amended version to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Appropriations — the panel that writes state government's annual budget — with a recommendation that the amended version pass. The state board initially approved an annual transfer of $200,000 to the pharmacists association in June 2023 but rescinded that decision in December 2023. By then, the association had already performed about six months of work, according to Riter Rapp. The board provided no funding to the association in 2024. The state board's executive director, Tyler Laetsch, told lawmakers there wasn't enough money to continue providing $200,000. 'Due to financial status, we have not been able to pay this for two years,' he said. Laetsch explained that the loss of a federal grant forced the state board to make cuts. He said the board was willing to provide the association with some amount that was less than the $200,000 the board had been annually transferring, but the association pointed to the law. 'They were stuck on the 80 percent, so they chose none,' Laetsch said. Republican Rep. Leslie Heinemann asked if the state board had considered seeking an appropriation from the Legislature. Laetsch said the board was set up to operate on fees. 'So we never went down that road,' Laetsch said. Matson said the pharmacists association accepts that the state law recognizing it will be repealed, but he said the association still continued to provide the services. He said the association will need to start charging membership fees to financially survive. As to the $400,000 that could have been received from the state board, Matson said the association would like to get a portion of it from the Legislature that could be used while the association transitions to a new financial setting. 'To start all that up, we need money, because we haven't been paid for two years and we're broke,' Matson said. Rehfeldt, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, said it was important for state government to pay for services that it had received. About the $200,000 request for the association, she said, 'I hope that's enough money to get them going.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
